Yesterday marked one year since a group of drummers first gathered outside the University Hospital of Northern British Columbia (UHNBC) in Prince George in support of healthcare workers and patients affected by COVID-19. The occasion was commemorated by a prayer from Lheidli T’enneh Elder Darlene McIntosh, speeches from frontline workers, a car parade, and of course drumming. Cases of COVID-19 continue to soar as BC recorded the second highest daily count yesterday despite the ongoing vaccine roll out.

The drum circle has grown significantly since it began in March 2020. Photo by N. Mansour.

Junior, a young attendee at the anniversary. Photo by N. Mansour.

Kat Morris, who has lost two family members to COVID-19, was one of the first drummers to show their support for patients and frontline workers at UHNBC in March 2020.  “My friend Wesley Mitchell...asked me if I wanted to come drum at the hospital one night, and I thought it was gonna be like a group of us, but it ended up just being me, Wesley and my niece, Joss Lynn.” Morris recalls the first night they were there, “we dropped a couple songs and the security guards came out. They're like, hey, you're not supposed to be [here]...and then we left." Since then, the drum circle has expanded beyond expectation, regularly attended by many.

Morris and Mitchell knew each other through drumming with the Khast’an drummers, but meetings had been paused by the COVID-19 pandemic. For them, drumming was something they knew and felt the power of healing in; it was only natural for them to keep drumming. “We just started coming back every night at seven o'clock, because everyone else was banging their pots around at seven. So we decided to bang the drums around...and then we heard from the nurses that they could hear us inside and that they really like our drumming.”

The car parade greeted by drummers and organizer, Ivan Paquette. Photo by N. Mansour.

Mitchell started to invite more people, and soon enough, it became a staple every Monday evening outside the hospital. “Every single night there'd be someone new so we all didn't know each other”, said Morris.

Lheidhli T'enneh chief Clayton Pountney (left) and Mayor Lyn Hall (beside him) were in attendance on Friday night. Photo by N. Mansour.

Steven Dubas was one of those people. He has been photographing the drumming circle since the beginning saying that “the reason why I started photographing all of this is because it's historical... I had to make sure that this was kept as a record for history.” Tonight, Dubas was gifted a drum by Mitchell and Michael Antoine, a great honor in commemoration of Dubas’ service and friendship.

Lheidli T'enneh chief Clayton Pountney and Prince George mayor Lyn Hall were both in attendance at the commemoration. Mayor Hall had words of praise for Mitchell. “It's just so heartening for me to see this happen... I think it just really shows the commitment of this community and just tells you really what this community is all about, to come together like this week after weekend support of our health care workers.”

Frontline workers commemorated. From left to right: Christian Silva, Jim Vander Poeg, Craig Douglass, Tracy Lotz, and Karin Piche. Photo by N. Mansour.

The Wheelin' Warriors of the North, a group that raises funds for cancer research, were some of the many in attendance. Almost 40 members were present to show support for Mitchell who is also a member of the cycling crew. “I just thought I would reach out to all of my teammates and see if I could get as many of them to come out tonight as possible to support Wesley, because what he's been doing for the year is just incredible”, states Karin Piché, captain of the Wheelin' Warriors and frontline worker.

The Wheelin' Warriors of the North showing support for their team mate Wesley Mitchell. Photo by N. Mansour.

For Morris and many others, coming to the weekly drum circles has helped her heal and connect to community. “I love drumming because I can help other people heal their spirits. And even when I'm really not feeling like going to drumming, I still go and I end up feeling way better...just being around the people helps my spirit.”  Morris expressed, “we welcome everybody from all different cultures. And we just like to have unity and it doesn't matter what color your skin is, you can come down and drum and it helps us all.”

The weekly drum circle is held on Monday evenings at the UHNBC at 6:30pm and plans to continue until the COVID-19 pandemic is over.

Listen to the interview with Kat Morris on CFUR-FM:

Listen to the interview with Mayor Lyn Hall on CFUR-FM:

Listen to the interview with Steven Dubas on CFUR-FM:

Listen to the interview with Karin Piché on CFUR-FM: